Little By Little

Summary

The author reflects on missing Poem on Your Pillow Day and their struggle with writer's block, despite the inspiration from poetry-related occasions, ultimately sharing a short poem and expressing gratitude for the prompt that led to their haiku about a journey.

Abstract

The article "Little By Little" by the author discusses the experience of missing out on Poem on Your Pillow Day, which occurred on May 3. Despite the existence of a dedicated month for poetry and specific prompts like the one from Ellie Jacobson, the author admits to a brief burst of inspiration followed by a lack of creative output. Acknowledging possible burnout or boredom, the author commits to gradually returning to writing. They share a belated poem for the moon and reminisce about a haiku they wrote last year, which was well-received. The author also thanks Ellie Jacobson for the creative prompt that sparked their previous work.

Opinions

The author feels a sense of regret for not capitalizing on Poem on Your Pillow Day and National Poetry Month to create more poetry.
There is an acknowledgment of personal challenges such as burnout or boredom affecting their creative process.
The author values the role of prompts and special occasions in sparking creativity, as evidenced by their appreciation for Ellie Jacobson's influence.
Despite the setbacks, the author is determined to rekindle their writing habit, indicating a positive outlook on overcoming creative blocks.

Leaving poems as pieces of ourselves

I missed Poem on Your Pillow Day on May 3.

Ellie Jacobson at Flint and Steel shared the special day with readers and writers. As with most moments this year, I was inspired for about 5 minutes and then gave it even less thought as the days went by. A specific day for poeming should be enough to spark some creativity. April is National Poetry Month, a whole month dedicated to poetry, but even then, I only managed one line of a poem.

It could be burnout, maybe just a bit of boredom. Either way, I have to start showing up again, little by little, and then maybe the words will, too.

So, even though I’m terribly late to the party as usual, here’s the poem I’d leave on a pillow for the moon:

Let’s hang out later; silver streaks on summer sheets I’m drawn to your light.

Late last year, I wrote a poem from a prompt that was to be a haiku with the word ‘journey’ as the theme. It was one of my favorites. Here’s that poem if you’d like to read it.

Thank you to Ellie Jacobson for the Poem on Your Pillow Day prompt.

Little By Little

Leaving poems as pieces of ourselves

Tired Traveler

With an empty suitcase

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